Bush on Saturday acknowledged problems in the start of the new Medicare prescription drug benefit for the elderly but said the government was working to fix them. In his weekly radio address, he also insisted the program was a "good deal" for seniors and encouraged more to sign up.Hundreds of thousands of elderly and disabled Americans have run into difficulties getting their prescription drugs since the Medicare drug program began on January 1, and many were turned away empty-handed.Several states stepped in to pay for the medications after people were not properly enrolled or were randomly assigned to plans that did not include the drugs they needed.Bush said the program, which he has touted as a major modernization of a popular government program, was working well for many seniors.... http://news.yahoo.com

Finance ministers from the world's leading industrialised countries have warned volatile energy prices threaten world economic growth in 2006. But officials from the Group of Eight (G8) nations said they still believed that growth would be good this year, in a statement issued after talks. Finance chiefs have been meeting in Moscow this weekend with energy security at the top of their agenda. Russia has taken the helm of G8 with its economic clout at an all-time high. In their final communique, the G8 ministers also: Called for aid to developing countries battling the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu Pressed for more action to advance World Trade Organization talks aimed at opening up international trade Vowed to step up the fight against networks which finance terrorism. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4703984.stm

The people out on the West Lawn of the Capitol were the kind of God-fearing, flag-waving conservatives who usually adore President Bush. But not yesterday."The president doesn't want secure borders!" Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) shouted to the anti-immigration rally, organized by the Minuteman Project. "He has the resources to do so, but the unfortunate, dirty truth of the matter is he has no desire to do so." Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) denounced Bush's immigration policy, saying, "I personally will not vote for any legislation that has a guest worker program in it."As demonstrators cheered and waved signs saying such things as "Bush Buries the Middle Class," talk-show host Terry Anderson summed up the mood. "The president sucks," he cried....http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/08/AR2006020802347.html

Iran could abandon the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) if forced to limit nuclear activities, its hardline president says. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said if the rights of the Iranian people were violated, Iran would "revise its policies". He made the comments in a speech marking the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution. On 4 February, the IAEA decided to report Iran to the UN Security Council over its disputed nuclear programme. The NPT, which has 187 signatories, was created to prevent new nuclear states emerging, to promote co-operation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to work towards nuclear disarmament. Non-nuclear signatories agree not to seek to develop or acquire such weapons. In return, they are given an undertaking that they will be helped to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4703434.stm

David Archuletta says he knew his former girlfriend was pregnant in 2001, but she told him the baby was stillborn.More than a year later, she told him the truth -- that she had given birth after traveling to New Jersey from their home in Colorado, and turned over the baby for adoption.Ever since, Archuletta has been fighting for custody -- his efforts stymied by what state officials now say was a mistake by the adoption agency involved, Children of the World."He looks just like me. I just want to be able to see my son," said Archuletta, who has Parkinson's disease and lives with his mother in Pueblo, Colorado.An Associated Press review of hundreds of state documents shows the Verona-based adoption agency knew of Archuletta's existence for nine months before it allowed the adoption to move forward. ...http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/02/11/adoption.fight.ap/index.html?section=cnn_us

A Sudanese military plane has crashed at an airport in the southern town of Awil, killing all seven crew and 13 soldiers on board, officials have said. The plane crashed in to a nearby building after the pilot lost control when the front tyre burst on landing, a senior official said. The Antonov 29 then caught fire, but it is unclear whether the plane exploded. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4704874.stm